Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Star trainer Justin Prentice was concerned late last year when Know When To Run lacked his normal enthusiasm and chalked up seven consecutive unplaced efforts.
“He was racing a bit flat,” explained Prentice. “His work was good at home, but he wasn’t racing the way I was hoping. So, I decided to freshen him up, and tonight at his first start for seven weeks, he appreciated a drop in grade and it was good to see him get the job done.”
Know When To Run was the $1.50 favourite from barrier three, and he was driven to perfection by Emily Suvaljko. The WA-bred seven-year-old raced in the breeze for the first 600m until Rock Me Over dashed forward to race outside the pacemaker Bettorstartdreaming ($8.50).
This gave Know When To Run a perfect trip in the one-out, one-back position. Suvaljko dashed Know When To Run to the front 250m from home and the Roll With Joe gelding raced away to win by four lengths from Rock Me Over, rating 1.59.4 over the 2536m journey.
Know When To Run is proving a bargain for Trotsynd’s No. 11 syndicate. He was purchased for $13,000 at the 2017 APG Perth yearling sale, and now boasts a record of 37 starts for 11 wins, 14 placings and stakes of $139,940.
He has been restricted to 37 starts because he suffered a hairline fracture during his second preparation and then damaged a tendon when he finished fifth behind Shockwave in the Golden Nugget in December 2019, an injury which kept him out of action for 20 months.